Chilling in Tilcara

View from the top of Pucara ruins

Sunday January 9, 2011

Today we got up late and after having breakfast we decided to visit the ruins of Pucara,wich is about two km out of town.This ruins are a pre inca fortification located on a hill.

On the top there is a rebuilt small temple pyramid and you got an awsome view of Tilcara.Close to the entry there is a small botanic garden wich itself is not very well maintained but it has a huge rock that rings like a bell when you knock on it- very cool.

„Chilling in Tilcara“ weiterlesen

Junction R40-R52 to Tilcara: Finally paved road

Up to Abra de Potrerillos

Saturday January 8, 2011, 80 km (50 miles) – Total so far: 356 km (221 miles)

The night wasn`t very relaxing as there was a lot of noise produced by the wind that moved the ribbed roof. At 6.40am we said goodbye to the indian guy- the only person in the whole village- and continued our way on R52, a paved road that seemed real luxury to us.

„Junction R40-R52 to Tilcara: Finally paved road“ weiterlesen

El Mojon to junction Road 52 direction Purmamarca

Desert Ruta 40

Friday January 7, 2011, 67 km (42 miles) – Total so far: 276 km (171 miles)

We continued our R40 experience at 6.30am. The road unfortunately stayed as it was yesterday, even worse. Often we had to push the bikes to go on, because there was so much sand and never ending washboard terrain. We used an argentinian and a german map, and in the german map a village called „Tres morros“ was supposed to be the junction to Purmamarca already.

„El Mojon to junction Road 52 direction Purmamarca“ weiterlesen

San Antonio de los Cobres to El Mojon: Tough ride on Ruta 40

Ruta 40 in the morning

Thursday January 6, 2011, 38 km (24 miles) – Total so far: 209 km (130 miles)

At 6:45am we were ready to leave San Antonio.We took the sandwiches Sergio had prepared last night for us and got on the track.The village was still sleeping the only sound you could hear were some dogs barking.

It was easy to find the beginning of ruta 40.The road was like Sergio(our hostel owner)told us:sandy,grave,and the worst was the extrem washboarding.Sometimes we left the road to ride at the fields beside,but as there were a lot of small bushes with a lot of big thorns it was also not really useful.

„San Antonio de los Cobres to El Mojon: Tough ride on Ruta 40“ weiterlesen

Santa Rosa de Tastil to San Antonio de los Cobres

Long way to the top

Tuesday January 4, 2011, 63 km (39 miles) – Total so far: 171 km (106 miles)

We started at 6 AM with only 13C° and almost not traffic on the road.As soon as the sun came out the temperature was climbing up and so did the road.The higher we got the more we could notice the dramatic change of the landscape.

Since we passed 3000m the color of the vegetation turned from green to brown and still we had to climb up 1000m more.At noon we stopped to eat.We had carried some noodles that we cooked the day before in the hostel.As we carried them in a ziplock bag on top of the rear rack the sun had warmed them up for us. „Santa Rosa de Tastil to San Antonio de los Cobres“ weiterlesen

From Salta to Chorrillos

Saturday January 1, 2011, 58 km (36 miles) – Total so far: 58 km (36 miles)

After having slept only a few hours because of the new years eve celebrations that took place in our hostel „Salta por Siempre“ we got up at 7:30. We had a typical argentinian breakfast with media lunas and jam.

To leave Salta at the 1st of January turned out to be a good decision because the road through the city was quite empty.It was easy to find road 51 direction „Campo Quijano“.Arriving there at noon we had some lunch empanadas and coke to get some energy for the climb that was waiting for us in the beginning of the Andes. „From Salta to Chorrillos“ weiterlesen

Equipment

Bikes in the suitcases

Here is what we took:
Bike Friday NWT with Rohloff

2 Ortlieb rear panniers 2 Ortlieb front panniers ortlieb handlebar bag

House: Big Agnes Cooper Spur UL3 Sleeping pad: Exped SynMat 9 DLX Sleeping bags: Cumulus (until Minus-17c) Silk sleeping bag

Stove:Primus Multifuel (used with gas only) Pots:MSR Titan Mini coowareset Titanium Knife, Fork and Spoon Set Orikaso folding plate,bowl and cup Waterfilter: Steripen Classic „Equipment“ weiterlesen